First Class Kitten
by Satsuriku-Sama
Summary: The new pet program landed Sephiroth with a... ball of fur? Don't call her that! Her? Yeah, it's a girl, and she'll help you get closer to your true love! Zack I will smite you...
1. Chapter 1

Sephiroth looked at the white ball of fluff in his palm.

"Zackary, why have you given me a ball of fur?" Sephiroth eyed the grinning SOLDIER standing in front of him.

"Don't call her that…" Zack pouted.

"Her?" Sephiroth raised his hand to his eye level.

Zack poked the ball. After a few moments, it started to move. First, two furry triangles popped up from its surface. And a long, thin, furry…thing…uncurled from around the ball. Slowly, the curled up cat untangled its limbs and stretched. It blinked and yawned, exposing tiny but sharp teeth. The tiny baby kitten sat on Sephiroth's outstretched palm and looked up at him with big blue eyes.

"Meow?"

"Zackary." Sephiroth counted from one to ten then back in his mind, just like his shrink had taught him.

"Yes, Seph?" Zack rubbed the pad of his finger between the kitten's ears. It closed its eyes and started purring.

"Why have you given me a cat?"

"She's not a cat!" Zack explained. "I got her from the labs."

"And why would I want an experiment?"

Zack sighed, then started explaining.

"Hojo made these pets for First-Class SOLDIERs. They're small and fragile at first, but they get really big, you should see the grown-ups down at the labs! The president wants us to train them when they get big, so they get mako shots and stuff too. I already got mine!" Zack pulled out his phone and showed Sephiroth a picture of a small dark brown fur ball. Two beady black eyes were looking curiously at the camera.

"How am I supposed to take care of an animal if I'm barely home?" Sephiroth sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You're not supposed to leave her at home, Seph…" Zack put his phone away. "You have to be with her at all times. She's gonna be a SOLDIER too. Go by the labs, some scientists are giving out information to how take care of them." Zack made a sloppy salute and left, closing the door behind him.

Sephiroth plopped back down in his chair (graciously, of course) and sighed. He looked at the kitten in his palm. She blinked at him. He stretched out a finger and held it in front of her face. She went cross eyed and stared at the tip of it. Sephiroth chuckled at her and touched her nose. He gently rubbed it up and down. The kitten started to purr. Sephiroth found the noise very calming. He decided to go down to the labs and know more about her.

Standing up, he looked around for somewhere to leave the kitty, then he remembered it would be better if he took her with him. When he stepped out of his office, he was immediately assaulted by Jane, the office bitch.

"Oh, my Gaia, it is so _adorable_!" She stretched out her hand to pet the kitten. Sephiroth was immensely pleased to see that the white animal bared her teeth and hissed at Jane.

Jane, however, had the IQ of a fencepost, and inched her hand closer.

"Look, General, she's smiling at me! OUCH!" The 'smiling' kitten had scratched the overly manicured hand. Sephiroth chucked and petted the kitten on the head,

"I guess she doesn't like your plastic nails, Ms. Maly…" Sephiroth walked away and pressed the elevator button. It opened immediately for him. Stepping inside he looked at the small furry cat sitting quietly in his palm. He smiled softly. When he stepped out onto the lab floor, he was stunned for a moment. SOLDIERs and Turks were all around, one screeching animal to each person. The humans were trying to keep the animals from running away, or gnawing at them. Sephiroth looked down to the kitten in his palm.

It was unfazed.

"I keep liking you more and more…" Sephiroth muttered. The kitten turned her head to look at him. Sephiroth thought he saw the corners of her mouth turn upwards. He shrugged it off and stepped to one of the stressed-looking scientists.

"Hello, General, come to learn about your new friend?" The lady behind the desk said.

"Yes." Sephiroth simply answered.

"Well, I'll start you on the basics." The lady started typing on the computer. "General Sephiroth… ah, here." She double clicked a file. "Female, white fur, blue eyes, is that right, General?"

Sephiroth held his palm out for the lady to see.

"Oh, so well behaved…" she smiled.

"Why wouldn't she be?" Sephiroth looked around the chaotic room.

"It's nothing, we're waiting for them to calm down so we can apply this month's mako shots." She waved him off and started typing again.

Sephiroth looked down to the kitten when he felt her move. She was arching her back and hissing at the doctor. Her fur was standing up, making her look twice as big (which wasn't much).

"Well, let's get started, shall we?" the lady put latex gloves on and took a syringe filled with liquid. Its telltale green glow made it easily recognizable as mako.

Sephiroth winced slightly as small claws grabbed his palm.

"There, there, little kitty…" the lady approached with the syringe. The small animal leapt from Sephiroth's hand and plunged into his coat. After much struggling, Sephiroth pulled the kitten out by the scruff of her neck and held her still. The shot was applied and the patient's eyes began to glow faintly. Sephiroth slowly loosened his grip and held the kitten in his palm again. She looked up at him with sad eyes. Sephiroth gave her a sympathetic look, he wasn't much of a fan of the shots either.

"Well, General, you need to buy a few things." The lady interrupted them, throwing the syringe and the gloves in a bin. "Some normal cat things, like a kitty bathroom with sand and a few toys for her to play with." She handed him a pet shop's business card. "She doesn't need cat food, anything you eat should be fine for her too."

Sephiroth nodded and took the card.

"She has to take mako shots every month, if you prefer, we can schedule them together with yours."

"That would be optimal." Sephiroth said. "What of her training?"

"She will have a growth spurt soon, we are administering a training program for the new companions. There are two different programs, for Turks and for SOLDIERs."

"How big will she get?" Sephiroth looked at the tiny creature in his hand. He resisted the urge to snort.

As an answer, the scientist lady pointed to a few cages at the back of the lab. In them were apparently the same creatures Sephiroth saw in the room, only bigger. There were cats, dogs, birds and reptiles, though all of them were absurdly large. A wolf should be 40 inches tall, tops, but Sephiroth was sure that grey one at the front was at least nearing 70 inches. For good measure, it bared its teeth and growled at Sephiroth. And was that a _toucan_ over there? It was at _least_ three feet tall…

"There is another stage, but we do not know yet what it is." The scientist lady was saying. Sephiroth nodded and went to the elevator. Again, it opened immediately for him. When he stepped inside, Zack was stepping out. His pet appeared to be a dog. A very frightened dog. Zack was cooing at it to calm down.

"I'm glad you're so well behaved." Sephiroth thought aloud looking at the kitten. It looked back at him with faintly glowing blue eyes.

"I see not the need to cause any disturbances, unless I feel threatened."

Sephiroth's eyes went wide. He stared down at the cat in his hand.

"Is there a problem?" The kitten blinked up at him.

"You speak." Sephiroth said dumbly. Internally, he thanked the elevator was empty.

"Yes." The cat answered. 'Duh' went unsaid.


	2. Chapter 2

_Last chapter:_

_"You speak." Sephiroth said dumbly. Internally, he thanked the elevator was empty._

_"Yes." The cat answered. 'Duh' went unsaid._

* * *

"This makes things easier…" Sephiroth exited the elevator to the garage. He entered his car and sat the kitten in the passenger's seat. He looked at her, then at the seat belt.

"Before you manifest your thoughts, I advise you to not tie me to the seat. I refuse to wear a useless strap." The cat turned forward and sat down.

"Where did you learn to talk like that?" Sephiroth started the car.

"My vocabulary merely exceeds one's average expectations, there is nothing erroneous to that." The kitten huffed. After a moment it continued. "Hojo played tapes for me to listen, he obviously supported the opinion that the General needed an intellectual pet." She rolled her eyes. "I'm positive I will learn to talk like you in short time."

"I'm not complaining," Sephiroth chuckled. "I'm glad you're not some brainless animal."

"Are you going to name me?" The kitten asked suddenly.

"Name you?" Sephiroth pulled into the parking lot of the pet shop.

"I hope you aren't going to constantly refer to me as 'animal'." She said as she got picked up by Sephiroth.

"What would you like to be called then?" Sephiroth put her inside one of the carts and pushed along the aisles.

"I retain no knowledge of names, I do not know yours even." The kitty looked through the rows of dog's chew toys with a bored look on her face.

"Mine is Sephiroth." He turned at the cat's aisle. "Let's see…" he pointed to a small cat's bathroom. "Do you like this one?"

"I'm going to grow, remember?" She reminded him. Sephiroth walked a little until he found a suitable one.

"I hope when you grow out of _this_, you'll be able to go outside yourself, right?" He held a _much_ bigger one. The kitten nodded. He figured she would be accompanying him everywhere, so he took another one to put in his office's bathroom. A few more feet further, he added some sand to the cart.

"Have you thought of a name yet?" the kitten asked from her perch on top of the items in the cart.

"My sword's name is Masamune." Sephiroth pondered. "Would you like your name to begin with 'M' too? Do you even know the alphabet?" He pondered.

"I know how to read and type if needed." She answered. "I think the letter 'M' has a nice tone to it."

Sephiroth took out a paper the scientist lady gave him.

"It says here all companions need proper identification. The options are a collar or a tattoo on the inside of your ear."

"Collar, please." She shuddered at the thought of needles.

"I thought so." Sephiroth steered the cart to the collar aisle. "Choose one."

She jumped off the cart and walked along the rows of collars. Sephiroth read the identification rules.

_All animals must be properly identified. Two ShinRa-issue tags will be released per animal. One must remain with the animal, the other with the owner (If you choose to mark your pet's ears instead of letting them wear a collar, do NOT discard the second tag). On the tag must be written:_

_*Animal's name_

_*Owner's name_

_*Owner's rank_

_*Contact phone number_

_*Medical file number_

Sephiroth looked up from the paper to see his companion's fur on end. Her tail was standing straight upwards and her back was arched. It was pathetic, really, but the equally small dog was cowering before her.

"Truffles! Truffles, where are you?"

Sephiroth groaned. He would recognize that voice anywhere. In seconds, Zack entered the aisle.

"There you are! Oh, you've met Seph's lil' friend already!"

"Zackary."

"Oh, hiya, Seph, how you doin'?"

Sephiroth sighed.

"This is Truffles." Zack picked the puppy up and held it to Sephiroth's face.

"I noticed. The whole store did." Sephiroth leaned on the side of the cart and watched his 'lil' friend', as Zack called her, look at the collars.

"Have you chosen a name for her yet?" Zack put the puppy down. It went to the kitten and started to sniff her. She looked at him with a very Sephiroth-ish expression on her face and touched her nose to Truffles'. They sniffed each other for a few moments. The kitten seemed to accept Truffles, as she turned back to the collars and Truffles bounced happily around her, talking about all the toys Zack was going to buy him.

"We've agreed on the first letter so far." Sephiroth said.

"Well?"

"'M'"

Zack rocked backwards and forwards on his feet.

"Mary? Mana? Moxie? Marshmallow? Moustache? Macintosh?"

"Zackary…"

"Madame Phloy? Mafalda? Magnificat? Miss Puss? Min…OUCH! Motherf…"

"Although it begins with an 'M', I dare you to finish that word." Sephiroth pried the kitten from Zack's hair.

"Stop saying stupid names!" She said.

"Y-you think m-my n-name is stu-stup-pid?" Truffles sobbed.

The kitten stared at him.

"Even though you asked me, let's not go there, shall we?" she turned her back to the wailing puppy and led a sniggering Sephiroth to the collar she wanted. It was higher up, so she couldn't reach it. She had chosen a simple black one. Instead of fastenings, it had to be tied to a lace. It looked like leather, but Sephiroth noticed it was a more comfortable material.

"A silk ribbon?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Anything against it?" the kitten retorted.

Sephiroth chuckled and kneeled down. The kitten held still while he pulled the silk ribbon through the hole in the tag and tied it to her neck. He secured it with a pretty lace and made sure it wasn't too tight.

"It looks good on you." Sephiroth picked her up.

"Thank you." She answered politely.

"Now we just need a name." Sephiroth sighed and went to the register, Zack and a wailing Truffles behind them. "How do you like Meirei?" He asked as he paid for everything.

"Meirei…" She tested it on her tongue. "Meirei… Meirei… I like it. Does it mean anything relevant?"

"Order, Command." Sephiroth smiled at her.

"Well, that suits the General's pet…" Zack muttered.

"Should I comment?" Meirei looked at Sephiroth.

"Don't bother." He took Meirei and the groceries to his car.

"You two deserve each other!" They heard Zack yell at them over Truffles' sobs.

"Oh, well. He'll get over it." Meirei sighed.

Sephiroth chuckled and drove back to ShinRa. He took everything to his apartment and sat on his couch.

"I have the rest of the day off." Sephiroth said thankfully.

"Is this where you live?" Meirei was looking around the living room.

"Yes. You can go look in the rooms, this is your house now too." Sephiroth went to his bathroom and poured sand in her new little bathroom. He saw her enter the bedroom.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked. Sephiroth shook his head. "Boyfriend?" Sephiroth grinned, but still shook his head. "Closet masturbator?" Sephiroth burst out laughing.

"Sorry to disappoint, but no." He sat on his bed and looked at the clock. It was already 8:00 PM. He could catch up on some sleep. "Are you hungry?" He asked her.

"A little. What do humans eat?" She followed Sephiroth to the kitchen.

"Well…anything really. I'm not too hungry either, so I'll eat a fruit. Do you want one?" Sephiroth took a green apple and bit into it. He saw Meirei looking curiously at the green orb. He took a knife out of the first drawer and cut a small piece for her. She leapt on the counter and took the piece Sephiroth held in his fingers into her mouth. She munched a little on it, then swallowed.

"It's…different." She licked her paw and ran it over her mouth.

"But do you like it?" Sephiroth asked.

"I don't really have anything to compare." Meirei watched as Sephiroth took different fruits from the fridge. He cut a little piece from every one, and put it in front of her. After explaining what each fruit was, and her tasting a bit of each, Sephiroth concluded that she liked every fruit he had at home, but preferred sweeter ones, like strawberries and peaches.

Sephiroth left Meirei by herself to take a shower. She roamed around the house until she knew where everything was, then jumped on the bed and curled on the pillow. When Sephiroth exited the bathroom wearing pajama bottoms, he smiled at the kitten. He pulled the covers back and settled himself underneath them. Since it was cold, he was using two comforters. Meirei snuggled closer to him in search for warmth. Sephiroth smiled wider and poked the small freezing cat awake with a finger. It squirmed a little and peeked one eye open at him.

"Come on." He lifted the comforters, exposing his bare chest to the cold. She stood up and walked sleepily to settle against Sephiroth's chest. She put both her front paws on his chest and started massaging him, just like little kittens do to their mothers. Sephiroth saw it as a sign she was comfortable and happy. He hid his arm from the cold and petted her. He could hear her purring, and feel the vibrations on his chest. He smiled contentedly and let it lull him to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

_Last chapter: _

_He could hear her purring, and feel the vibrations on his chest. He smiled contentedly and let it lull him to sleep._

* * *

Sephiroth awoke with small paws walking up and down his body. He didn't open his eyes. He wanted to know what Meirei would do. The small paws stepped up to his shoulder, then down to his knees. It jumped down to the mattress and walked in circles, then on his body again.

"I can't find her!" A voice Sephiroth recognized and Truffles' spoke in a loud whisper.

"Shh" Zack said. "Don't wake him up!"

"Zackary." Sephiroth didn't move. "If I open my eyes and you're still in this room, I'm assigning you every piece of paperwork I have." He heard quick steps and his bedroom door closing. He breathed deeply and lifted the covers to look at Meirei. She was still resting her front paws on his chest, but was already awake.

"Good morning, Meirei." Sephiroth smiled. He was granted a profound view of her tonsils. He chuckled and slid out of bed. He shivered as the cold hardwood floor met his bare feet. He turned around when he heard a 'BONK'. Meirei had come from under the covers and had walked head first into the headboard. Her clumsy sleepiness added immensely to her cute factor. Sephiroth would never admit that, of course. He picked her up and walked to the kitchen, where he sat her on the counter.

"Zackary why are you still here?" Sephiroth started making breakfast.

"You said nothing about leaving your apartment." Zack rubbed his eyes.

"We want breeeakfaaast!" Truffles whined. His stomach gave a high pitched grumble to emphasize his demand.

"Get out, mutt." Meirei was glaring daggers at him from her sleepy half lidded eyes.

"Not a morning person, are you?" Zack joked.

"Not a person at all." She deadpanned.

Sephiroth blocked out their bickering as he made breakfast. Toast, eggs and bacon. He divided it into two SOLDIER sized portions for himself and Zack, and filled two small desert plates for Meirei and Truffles. Sephiroth and Zack talked about the new training program while Meirei kept Truffles away from her plate.

"EW!" Sephiroth jerked his head to Meirei, alarmed at the sudden outburst.

"What?" He looked her over for any injuries Truffles might have caused.

"Is this _meat_?" She spat out a piece of bacon. Truffles stole it from her. "That's like…cannibalism!" she stared in disgust as Truffles wolfed down her bacon.

"Seph…" Zack guffawed. "Meirei's vegetarian."

"No shit." Sephiroth stared as the kitten lapped water from a bowl.

* * *

In his office, Sephiroth had already set up Meirei's bathroom and showed her where it was. He was currently doing paperwork and she was lounging on his couch. As usual Sephiroth didn't show it, but he was bored.

He shredded another useless piece of paperwork. Then, a thought occurred to him. He tore a blank page from his notebook and balled it up in his fist. He threw it to Meirei. When it landed next to her, she jumped and stared at it. Then she stretched her neck and sniffed it. Then she lifted her paw and tentatively hit the ball. It rolled off the couch to the floor. She leapt after it.

For a few minutes Sephiroth watched her play around his office. Then he was brought back from his thoughts as someone knocked on his door. He lifted his head from his palm and Meirei flopped back the right way up and jumped on the desk.

"Come in." Sephiroth called.

The door opened and Sephiroth's least favorite Turk came in. Wild, red hair all over the place and a shabby looking suit. He strode over to Sephiroth's desk and plopped down on one of the chairs in front of it.

"I'm spent, yo." Reno sighed. "Little fucker ran from the shots, had to do it myself…"

"May I help you Reno?" Sephiroth cut in.

"Oh, yeah, right." He put a folder on the desk. "Tseng wants your permission to start the pet training program earlier. Sign at the end of each page, and twice at the last."

Sephiroth read quickly though the document and was searching for a pen. Meirei picked one up she had found under the couch and gave it to him.

"Cute kitty. What's his name?" Reno eyed the cat. He knew better than to put his hand anywhere near animals he did not know."

"Excuse me." Meirei scoffed. "But _I_ am a _lady_."

"Who the mindless godless fuck forgot to clean the air vents, yo!" Sephiroth saw a squiggly furry thing fall on his desk.

"Tell me about it." Reno picked the small animal up and started dusting him off.

"Hey, fucker, stop slapping me, yo!" the squiggly thing said.

"Reno?" Sephiroth demanded an explanation.

"Oh, this is Numnum! He was looking for alternate escape routes!" Reno put the ferret on the desk. It shook itself and spotted Meirei.

"How you doin', babe?" it trotted to her.

"Please detain this rodent, I do not want to be infested with rabies." Meirei inched away from the ferret.

"_Rodent_!" Numnum acted offended. "Let's not hurt each other with words, pretty thing. I think I know what you need. You need some lovin', yo!" he began to approach Meirei again. When his nose touched her cheek, she swiped her paw at him. Four thin red lines adorned Numnum's face.

"Numnum! What did I tell you about high class women?" Reno scolded him.

"Don't let the father catch you?" Numnum rubbed his cheek.

"Well…yes…but that's not the point." Reno picked Numnum up and took the folder back from a smirking Sephiroth. When the door closed again, Sephiroth took a tissue and cleaned Meirei's paw.

"Who's that?" she asked him, as she inspected her claws.

"Reno. He works for the Turks, under Tseng." Sephiroth threw the tissue away and turned back to his paperwork. There was little left now.

"Who are the Turks? And who is Tseng?" Meirei was reading one of the reports while she talked. Multitasking. Sephiroth liked that.

"Maybe you should read the database and a few reports. I suppose if you're going on missions with me, you're going to have to know this kind of information." Sephiroth said.

"Maybe I can help you with paperwork too. I can type, you know…" Meirei sat on top of the 'finished' pile.

"I think I have an idea." Sephiroth dialed Zack's phone. "Zackary. What is the name of the Cadet you help?...Yes, send him here…I'm going to give him some extra credit, since you say he is so capable…Yes…Yes…Thank you." Sephiroth hung up.

A few minutes later, there was another knock on the door. Zack came in followed by a blond Cadet holding Truffles.

"Meirei!" Truffles jumped off the Cadet's arms and ran to the desk. He stood on his hind legs and started jumping, trying to get up. Meirei lowered her head to look at him from the edge of the desk.

"What is it you want?" she asked.

"Let's play!" Truffles kept jumping.

"No."

"Pleeease!"

"No."

Zack picked Truffles up and put him on the desk. He started jumping around Meirei. She pushed him off the desk.

"I like this." She said, looking down to the hopping puppy.

"You're teaching her to be a bitch, Seph, stop it." Zack put the whining puppy back on the desk.

"Um…"

Sephiroth looked at the Cadet.

"Zackary, you're not needed here anymore."

"Aww, Seph, let me stay here, I don't want to do paperwork!" Zack whined, much like Truffles.

Sephiroth responded by giving him an icy glare. Zack was immune to it, but he got the message anyways.

"Fine. I want Spiky back in the same number of pieces, though." Zack picked Truffles and went out, stopping only to ruffle the Cadet's hair.

"Step closer." Sephiroth said to the nervous blond wreck after Zack closed the door. He did, and his eyes went immediately to Meirei. Sephiroth saw a small smile tug at his lips. Meirei was looking curiously at him, her head tilted to her right.

"Name."

The Cadet saluted sharply and straightened his back.

"Strife, sir. Cloud Strife."

"Strife." Sephiroth tested the name on his tongue.

"Yes, sir."

"Cadet, from now on, you will no longer attend classes." Sephiroth started explaining.

"S-sir?"

"You will study through books and only go to class during Exam Period. Your physical classes will be on weekends with Lieutenant Fair. I want you here in this office every morning, Monday through Friday, at oh-six hundred hours sharp. You will be given a clearance card to enter this floor and office. You are not to snoop around, you are not to be here alone unless you were given a direct order by me or Meirei. You will be handling official ShinRa documentation. You are not to read it, only handle it as ordered. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir." Cloud saluted again.

"Very well." Sephiroth stood up and went to a discrete door behind his desk. "Follow me." He unlocked it and entered a file room. In the center, was a huge, soft-looking sofa. Sephiroth led him to a file cabinet with a small number one printed on it.

"You will take these files, open them to the first page, and let Meirei read, until she tells you to turn the page. Finishing the file, you will put it back exactly where and how you found it and take the next one. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Start now, I will call you at midday."

"Yes, sir." Cloud took the first file from the first drawer of the first cabinet. Meirei, who was listening closely to Sephiroth, passed her master rubbing herself against his ankles, and went to the sofa. Cloud sat next to her.

"Um… How would you like me to hold it, miss?" Cloud asked Meirei.

"Miss?" Meirei laughed. "Cloud, I am only three days old, you may call me by my name."

"Three days? That makes you the youngest one I met! Your birthday would be on the... second of November, then?" Cloud brightened up.

"Yes. I was the last Hojo made." Meirei hopped on Cloud's lap and made herself comfortable. "Put it on the couch next to you and turn the pages with one of your hands. That way, you can study with the other."

Cloud did as told and Meirei started reading. Cloud took one of his tactic books and began reading too. Every now and then Meirei would softly say 'turn' and Cloud would. In the beginning he messed up the books, but after a few minutes they were like clockwork. He was surprised to find out that Meirei read a 500 page file in less than an hour. They were in the middle of file number 5 when Sephiroth entered.

"Is everything in order?" he asked, picking Meirei from Cloud's crossed legs.

"Yes, sir." Cloud stood.

Sephiroth regarded him for a moment, then asked Meirei.

"How do you like him?"

"He's very quiet and wasn't sneaking looks on the files. Studying." She explained. Sephiroth nodded satisfied and led the way out of his office to the hall. It was bustling with people heading for the cafeteria.


	4. Chapter 4

_Sorry for the wait, and many thanks to all those that reviewed and added this to their favourites and alerts! *huggles* I love you guys!_

* * *

"Spiky!" Truffles came running down the hall. "Zack wants to have lunch!" he slipped on the polished floor and skidded over until he hit Sephiroth's boot. "Meirei! Let's have lunch!"

"Why are you so loud?" she made herself comfortable on Sephiroth's hand.

"Come down! Let's play!" Truffles started jumping, trying to reach her.

Meirei closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

"Go _away_."

Sephiroth bent down and picked Truffles up. He gave him to Cloud.

"Are you hungry?" he asked the Cadet.

Before Cloud could answer, his stomach made a loud grumbling noise. Cloud blushed.

"I suppose you are." Sephiroth started walking to the cafeteria. "You can eat here too, now. Give me your card."

Sephiroth took Cloud's school badge and swiped it at the cafeteria door, then swiped his own. Green letters spelled 'clearance accepted' on the small screen. Sephiroth gave Cloud his badge back and entered the cafeteria with the Cadet in tow.

Truffles found Zack sitting with some other SOLDIERs and immediately started yelling:

"DADDY! DADDY! DADDYDADDYDADDYDADDYYY!"

Zack looked back and leapt from his seat.

"Where were you, I got so worried!" While Zack kept cooing over Truffles, Sephiroth sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Cloud looked up at him with a smile on his face. Then it vanished, and his eyes showed concern.

"Sir? Are you alright?"

Sephiroth looked down to those blue eyes. They were clearer than Meirei's, and seemed deeper too.

"Sir?"

Sephiroth snapped out of his trance and blinked.

"I'm fine, Cadet, thank you for your concern."

Cloud smiled and turned back to Zack. He started lecturing his friend about not leaving his puppy alone. Zack dragged Cloud to one of the vending machines and bought him a McPlate HappyMeal.

"Zack, how am I supposed to eat all this?" Cloud stared at the dinosaur burger in his tray.

"Stick it in your mouth and chew." Zack bought an even bigger one for himself.

"No shit, Sherlock." Cloud grumbled and sat down at the table with SOLDIERs. Everyone at the table greeted him as if it were normal to see a Cadet in the SOLDIER cafeteria.

"Have you ever been here before?" Sephiroth sat down with his own tray in front of Cloud.

"Zack drags me here now and again." Cloud swallowed a mouthful and took a sip of his juice.

"I do not _drag_, I invite you to break bread." Zack defended himself.

"Swallow before you speak, Zackary." Sephiroth picked at his salad and gave some leaves to Meirei. She ate them slowly, unlike Truffles next to her, that was wolfing down a small hamburger. Meirei scoffed at his manners.

"When is the first growth spurt?" Cloud wondered.

"Don't even think about it, Spike, Truffles eats enough as it is…" Zack grumbled.

"You're the one that eats like it's your last meal." Cloud put his half finished 'dinosaur' burger down and pushed it to Zack, who gobbled it up greedily.

"It could be." Zack swallowed. "What if I die on my next mission, Cloud? What will you do?"

"Can I have your vinyl collection when you die?" Cloud dipped a French fry in mustard and popped it in his mouth.

"I have had my eyes on them for much longer than you. Pick something else." Sephiroth started eating his spaghetti, putting some on the salad dish for Meirei.

"You guys are mean…" Zack pouted.

Sephiroth watched Cloud bicker with Zack a little more while he ate. Meirei finished licking her lips and looked at Sephiroth. He started to pet her head.

"I get the feeling that you feel different about this boy." Meirei whispered so that only Sephiroth could hear. He looked down at her and pondered.

"I don't know." He said. When he looked up, Zack was leaving with Truffles and Cloud was wiping his mouth with a napkin. The blond smiled at him.

"Should I continue, sir?" he asked, motioning to Meirei.

"Yes, let's go back."

* * *

For the next few weeks, Cloud kept going to Sephiroth's office, handling files and folders for Meirei, having lunch with Zack and his friends, then going back to the office. At six o'clock every day, Sephiroth entered the file room and said he could go. On weekends, Zack would wake him up at the crack of dawn, drag him to one of the SOLDIER training rooms, and make him have a week's worth of physical classes and then some more. On Sundays, he was free, but Zack still dragged him around the plate to restaurants, fairs, and once to meet his girlfriend, a girl who sold flowers under the plate.

One day, when he was coming back from lunch, he found Meirei and Truffles in the hall. Meirei had her back arched, and Truffles was trying to make himself as small as possible, lying on a corner.

"What's wrong?" Cloud stopped in his tracks.

"Filthy mutt." Meirei hissed at Truffles.

"I said I was sorry…" Truffles whined.

"Truffles!" Zack's voice came from behind Cloud. "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?" Cloud turned around. "What's going on?"

"Truffles ripped Meirei's catbed." Zack explained in a low tone as he picked Truffles up and left with him.

"He didn't rip it, he _destroyed_ it." Meirei still had all her fur standing.

"I'm sure he was just playing." Cloud crouched down next to her. "Christmas is coming soon, I'll get you a new bed."

"You don't have to, Cloud, I was growing out of it anyway…" Meirei calmed down and sat. Indeed, she was already as big as a lion cub, no wonder she grew out of it. "Should we go back? We're almost finished with the files."

Cloud nodded and picked her up. He tried to do so as much as possible, because, one, she was growing so fast, he wouldn't be able to do so anymore, and two, like she said, they were almost finished with the files, soon, he would go back to his life as a cadet.

* * *

Sephiroth didn't even look up when Cloud knocked softly and entered his office, he was so nervous. His desk looked like a copy machine had puked on it, and Zack barging in all the time to apologize for Truffles was making him stab something. Preferably Zack. He continued quick reading the documents, denying some, signing others, and shredding some others.

"Sir?" he heard the soft voice of Cloud call him. He looked up and behind him, where Cadet Strife was poking his head out of the file room door.

"Yes, cadet?" he rubbed his eyes. Damn, they hurt.

"Um…It's nine o'clock already, an—"

"Nine o'clock?" Sephiroth looked at the watch on his wall. "Hm, indeed. I apologize for keeping you so long, Cadet, you may go."

"S-sir? May I ask you a question?" the shy blond stepped out of the room and closed the door after Meirei.

"You just did, Cloud." She jumped on Sephiroth's lap.

"Um…" Cloud blushed. Sephiroth fought back the urge to smile.

"Yes, Cadet?"

"Well…Christmas is just around the corner, and…I was wondering…would…would you mind if I took Meirei to do some Christmas shopping?" he fidgeted with the hem of his jacket. "Sir?" he hastily added.

Sephiroth looked down at his lap at Meirei.

"Actually…" she hopped on his desk and promptly sat on the file he was reading. "I was hoping you would leave this office too. You work too much and that's not healthy."

"So this was your idea?" he asked her. When she nodded, he sighed and leaned back on his chair. "Alright. But I want to eat later, too." He watched as Meitei pulled her lips back, exposing her sharp little teeth, but not in a menacing way. He learned it was the closest she could manage to a smile.

"Where, oh dear Sephiroth, are you going?" Genesis was leaning his shoulder on the door frame. He was holding a dark red fox in his arms, the only other color of it being a white tuft on the end of its tail and another one on its chest and belly.

"Would you care to come?" Sephiroth stood up and adjusted his coat, knowing Genesis heard the conversation.

"No, no, no, you're not going like that." Genesis put his fox down and tsked at Sephiroth. "You need to change into more comfortable clothes."

"I am comfortable." Sephiroth frowned.

As they bickered about Sephiroth's choice of attire, Cloud crouched down and watched the fox walk over to Meirei. It was much smaller than her. They touched noses and sniffed each other. Then the fox sniffed Cloud's hand.

"Hello…" he said softly. "What's your name?"

"I'm Akane. Who are you?" she asked and sat down.

"I'm Meirei. This is Cloud." She sat down, forming a triangle. "Who is that man?" she motioned to Genesis."

"That's my master, Genesis Rhapsodos. I know he wasn't originally invited, but do you mind us tagging along?"

"Of course not." She turned to Cloud. "Do you?"

"You know I don't." he smiled at her.

"Well, then, let's go!" she stood up and started rubbing herself on Genesis' leg. Meirei did the same to Sephiroth.

Cloud stood up and followed them to the elevator.

"Where are your manners, Sephiroth, who do we have here?" Genesis smiled at Cloud.

"Cloud Strife, sir." He saluted.

"No need for that, Cloud, I'm only your superior when we're working." Genesis waved him off.

"Where are we going?" Sephiroth asked.

"The mall!" Genesis said matter-of-factly. "Where else?"

They got off the elevator at the garage. Genesis led them to one of Shin-Ra's smaller trucks and they drove off, Meirei and Akane in the back seat with Cloud, much to his delight. It turned out they quickly became friends, and were tumbling around across the seat and on Cloud's lap.

"I feel like a father to her." Genesis looked in the back mirror at Akane. "Don't you?" he asked Sephiroth.

"I'm glad she liked Akane." He nodded. "She's not going along well with the others."

"Who has she met so far?"

"Truffles and Numnum." Sephiroth chuckled. "You would think they'd choose better names."

"Knowing who the owners are, they're lucky with the names they got." Genesis entered the Plate Mall's parking lot. He stopped next to the valet. "First I need to stop by Armani for those leather pants they have in your size," Genesis was saying to Sephiroth as they entered the Mall. "oh, and I saw this wonderful coat in Gucci that would look _fantastic_ on Angeal, then we'll go to Swarovski for a double collar for Akane and Meirei, since they're friends now, an—"

"We'll leave as soon as he enters the first store, he won't notice we're gone." Sephiroth said out of the corner of his mouth to Cloud, who stifled a laugh.

"Can I go too?" Akane asked. "It's extremely boring having to go to the mall with him." She sighed. Sephiroth chuckled and nodded at her.

* * *

True to his word, Sephiroth Grabbed Cloud's arm when they lost Genesis in Armani's men's section, and dragged him out of the store. Akane and Meirei sprinted after them from under clothing racks.

"There." Sephiroth released Cloud. "Now, where would you like to go?" he turned to the cadet and frowned. "Why are you laughing?" he asked.

Cloud tried to control his breathing and looked at Sephiroth.

"I'm sorry, sir, it's just…haha…I've never pictured you in this kind of situation." He continued explaining when he saw Sephiroth's puzzled look. "I've only ever seen you in your office, it's hard to imagine you're anything but the General."

"I get that a lot." Sephiroth sighed and started walking. "You'd think I was some robot. I know I'm too serious, and everyone thinks I don't have a life outside of the military, but it's not true. I do have friends, I like coming to the mall, I have hobbies and things that annoy me, I'm as normal s the next person."

Cloud stared at him.

"What?"

"I think that's the most I've heard you talk at once, sir." He said.

"Oh." Sephiroth looked back forward. "Well…where would you like to go first?"

"I already did my Christmas shopping, sir, I just asked because Meirei said you needed some fresh air." Cloud watched Meirei and Akane run forward and start playing around a potted plant in the hall.

"I see." Sephiroth pondered on what to do. "I don't want to go back to Genesis, and he might find us. We need to go _somewhere_."

"Sephiroth, what's that?" Meirei and Akane were looking at the movie posters.

"That's a cinema." A light bulb went off on top of Sephiroth's head. "Would you like to watch a movie, Cloud?"

"Yes, yes! A movie!" Meirei and Akane began jumping around them. Cloud laughed. Sephiroth thought the sound reminded him of bells. Then he shook his head slightly. That's ridiculous.

"I guess it's settled then." Sephiroth said. "Which one?"

"There's more than one movie?" Akane stared wide eyes at Sephiroth.

"I think we should explain better." Cloud laughed. "A movie shows moving pictures that tell a story. Every movie's different from the other. By looking at these," he pointed to the posters "You can guess what the movie is about. Which one do you like best?"

"That one! That one looks like Ylva!" Akane jumped up and down in front of a poster.

"Surviving with wolves." Sephiroth read. "It's good, I've watched it before."

"Who's Ylva?" Meirei asked.

"She's with Angeal Hewley." Akane explained.

Sephiroth bought the tickets while Cloud bought popcorn, soda and candy bars. Meirei and Akane followed them to movie theatre number two and ran up the stairs. Sephiroth chuckled and led them to their seats. They were fairly early, so there were few people sitting. They sat with Meirei and Akane in the middle and started eating.

"What's this?" Akane asked, eying the popcorn.

"Popcorn." Cloud put the smaller bucket of popcorn between them. They curiously sniffed at it, then tried it.

"Yum!" Meirei went for more.

"It's funny!" Akane giggled at the crunching noises.

"They're just like children!" Cloud laughed and sipped his soda. Sephiroth watched him. Why was he watching him?

"Well, they _are_." He averted his eyes to his own bucket of popcorn.

They kept a light conversation, explaining things to Meirei and Akane, until the lights dimmed and they began watching the previews. Meirei and Akane behaved and kept quiet throughout the whole movie.

* * *

Genesis was fuming. He stormed through the halls of the mall over laden with shopping bags, and still no sight of them.

"I'm going to kill them!" he yelled, making many passersby flee into stores.

* * *

_I kinda think Sephirtoh and Cloud are a bit too couple-y for my taste, but I'll let you decide that. Maybe next chapter I'll put them in a restaurant after the movie, or something like that. Does anyone have any ideas for more pets? Pictures, maybe? Please review!_


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